22 FEBRUARY 2018

Moreno outclasses Cermeño in rematch victory

By Jose Santana Jr: At a packed out Roberto Duran Arena in Panama City, Panama, Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno once again defeated Nehomar Cermeño by split decision, however this time the fight wasn’t as close as the scorecards indicated. Moreno, of San Miguelito, Panama, retained his WBA bantamweight world title with the win.

The first fight took place in Cermeño’s backyard of Venezuela with Moreno taking home a close split decision. Cermeño was the interim holder of the WBA crown. This time they took the rematch to Panama, where Cermeño now resides and trains.

The tone of this fight was different than the first as Moreno came out using his customary movement and jab working every corner of the ring. His mastery footwork allowed him to throw jabs and straight lefts while avoiding Cermeño’s counter-attack. It wasn’t until the fourth round that Cermeño landed his best punch of the night catching Moreno with a right hand moving backwards. He attempted to use his rough and rugged style over Moreno, as in the first fight, but could never take over momentum of the fight.

Mid-way through Moreno began to switch direction and move forward as he did in the first fight testing Cermeño with his jab and countering with speedy left uppercuts. It only lasted for so long as in the next round he went back to his boxing. Cermeño, for his part, always kept Moreno honest trying to catch him along the ropes and with a continuous attack of straight rights to the body. Moreno’s upper body movement and holding on the inside made it difficult for Cermeño to do so effectively, and his foot movement made it difficult for him to do much else.

Every so often, the aggressive Cermeño would catch Moreno with a straight right forcing his head back, but the maestro Moreno would not fluster and would come back with his jab and straight lefts. What appeared to be a wide decision for Moreno, was made close by the judges who seemed to appreciate Cermeño’s often ineffective aggression. The scores were 115-113 for Cermeño and 117-112, 115-113 for Moreno.

With the victory and seventh defense of his title, the Ring Magazine No. 2 ranked bantamweight Moreno, 25, improves to 30-1-1 (10). Cermeño, 30, and ranked No. 7 by the Ring, falls to 19-2 (11). Moreno continues to build a top-10 pound-for-pound resume to go along with his skills.

After the fight, Moreno and his team expressed their disagreement with the close scores but pleasure with the victory, which they hope will open an opportunity for more fights against the top fighters in the division. They additionally mentioned a desire to participate in the planned bantamweight tournament being organized by Showtime.

In a 12-round fight for the interim WBA middleweight world title Gennady Golovkin travelled from his Stuttgart, Germany, residence to take out Colombian Milton Nuñez in one round. The 28-year-old Golovkin picks up his 19th win in as many fights, with 16 by knockout, in what was his first fight outside of Europe. The overmatched Nuñez, 22, falls to 21-2-1 (19).

The loaded 15-fight card was presented by Panamanian-based Istmo Promotions and Events.